But the camera started a life-long love affair with photography which this week will culminate with Rauhauser being awarded the Kresge Eminent Artist Award.

Not one to be highfalutin, he calls himself a street photographer. “I would wait and wait to take a photo, until the moment was right,” says Raushauser of his more than 60-year career taking photos in the city of Detroit.

His motto: Be there. Be Ready. Be Lucky.

Rauhauser says he would occasionally ask someone if he could take their photo and was surprised at their response. “They would often say ‘why me?'” he reported.

The natural, freestyle, even voyeuristic aesthetic of his photography is part of his wide appeal. As for all of the photographers who have descended on the city of Detroit recently to capture ‘ruin porn,’ Rauhauser says “What’s so hard about taking a picture of a building? It doesn’t move.